Redcat volcano exp motor not working
 

Volcano EXP

stock volcano. all original parts, brushed motor.

the motor is not turning. i have troubleshot following:
according to the troubleshooting guide suggestions for this condition, i have:

• adjusted throttle trim
• checked the wires inside the transmitter on the throttle trigger

also of note, steering works fine...

in addition, i have removed the motor and confirmed it is working electrically (hooked up AA battery, cleaned it with degreaser). so, with the motor confirmed, and simple trim adjustments and wiring in the transmitter confirmed, the only thing left in the middle is the ESC.

what are the chances that my ESC is bad... not sending signals to the motor? am i missing anything else?

thanks!
brian

Could the ESC wire to the receiver be plugged in backward? If not, sounds like an ESC issue. If you have a voltmeter, you can check that the receiver is sending a signal to the ESC, then check the output of the ESC.

thanks KodeMechanic. yep, the wires from rx to esc are correct. (i flipped them, then nothing worked). i don't know how to get the vmeter inline as there are no bare contacts from the rx to the esc. if i unpluge that 3-wire gang from the rx, then nothing works. i tried this, putting my vmeter leads on the pins, but nothing happened. also, i did try the esc outputs, but also nothing (which would support the info that the motor works on its own).

one other thing i realized (OK, i'm a noob, and didn't know what state it is supposed to be in under normal conditions) -- the red light on the esc is flashing. i just found other posts on the web that says this is bad. now, i am feeling more confident in the assessment that the esc is shot. have had the car (my son's) for just over a year, but it really doesn't have many hours on it. will check redcat warranty, but not holding much hope.

thanks for any other insights, all.

brian

I dont have the volcano, but what I could find on the interwebs suggested that a flashing red light on the esc means voltage is low. If the battery is charged, try the multimeter on the battery to make sure one of the cells isn't bad. There is also a voltage cutoff on the ESC that can be set (I think). Might be able to turn that down or off and see if that makes it move. I found a few videos on youtube about traxxas blinking red lights on ESC. Those might point you in the right direction for diagnosing the problem as well. Hopefully it's an easy fix.

Have you recalibrated the throttle ?